Strangers in a Strange Land

I'm sitting here at the Kennedy Krieger Institute's Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD Center).  I'm in the waiting room while Sunshine is off with two of the doctors hopefully having fun and being evaluated.  One would think that being surrounded by children having tantrums and meltdowns and who have impulse-control problems, who are would be unnerving, but the longer I'm here, the more I find myself relaxing. And smiling.  There is something soothing about being around other kids whose behavior, speech, and mannerisms are so very like my son's.  It's a welcome change not feeling the constant urge to protect him from disapproving glares. To explain away his weird mannerisms. To shush him so that he's not disturbing others.  

Here, Sunshine can be his strange self without the pressure to act normal.  This is our third visit here and it's beginning to feel old hat.  I can spot the "first-timers".  The parents and caregivers who are still uneasy and feel the need to apologize for their child's lack of social skills.  They're the ones glancing around and quietly redirecting their oblivious kids from their awkward interactions with others.  Guiding their children out of other peoples' personal spaces.

It's refreshing to be in my element and to be in a position to offer a kind, reassuring word to these parents who are stressed out and uncomfortable and wary of other adults' reactions to their sweet babies.  To tell them, "I get it.  I get and accept your kid spinning and screeching and speaking in odd ways."  We're in this together.  You're in good hands here.  Your loved one is in good hands here.  For once, Sunshine and I are in our element with others just like us.  Strangers in a strange land named Autism.